1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connecting device for optical fibres.
2. Description of the Related Art
When optical fibres are used as information carrying media, it is often necessary to join the fibres together and also to connect the fibres to light-transmitting and light-receiving units.
The present invention relates to a device for mutually connecting different kinds of fibres. Thus, the inventive connecting device can be used to join both plastic fibres and glass fibres.
A connecting device which is comprised essentially of an homogenous cylinder having a through-penetrating hole which extends along the cylinder axis is known to the art. At each end of the cylinder, there is provided a funnel-shaped recess which is symmetrical with respect to the cylinder axis and which leads to the throughpassing hole. The connecting device is made from a non-transparent material.
When using this known device, the ends of respective fibres are inserted into the funnel-shaped recess and then guided into the throughpassing hole, so as to meet one another within the device.
This known fibre-connecting device is expensive to manufacture and is encumbered with several decisive drawbacks. One drawback is that it is difficult to achieve sufficient precision with regard to the diameter of the throughpassing hole. The hole diameter should be precise to a tolerance of less than about 1 micrometer in order for the fibre ends to meet one another in the manner desired, i.e. with sufficient overlap of the fibre cores. Another drawback is that the connecting device is intended only for one single join. A further, serious drawback is that it is not possible to see or check the positions of the fibre ends in the fibre-connecting device.
These drawbacks are eliminated by means of the present invention, which provides a fibre-connecting device of high precision and of relatively inexpensive manufacture.